‘Nine out of ten’ Russia claim gold in Rhythmic Gymnastics
Even with minor glitches, Russia held onto their faith and first place in the Rhythmic Gymnastics group all-around final at National Gymnastics Arena on Wednesday.
"We believed in victory," said team veteran Anastasiia Maksimova, 23. "We believed in ourselves. Our mission was to go onto the podium and demonstrate our skills.
"The first exercise was good, but we made two mistakes in the second one. I give the performance nine out of ten."
Russia's slight errors in the exercise with three sets of clubs and two hoops were ultimately no threat to their title.
They scored 35.300 points for gold, ahead of silver medallists Israel (35.050) and bronze medallists Belarus (34.850).
Ekaterina Levina said Israel's focus on performance – rather than ranking – resulted in their pair of consistent routines.
"We worked so hard for this," she said. "We didn’t think we would take second place. We were trying not to think about medals. We were trying to think about what we were going to do, and that’s it."
The top six groups in each exercise qualified for the respective group apparatus finals on Sunday.
The leaders are Russia in five ribbons, and Belarus in three sets of clubs and two hoops.
The Russians had already taken both Artistic Gymnastics gold medals on Monday.
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